Swiss sensor maker Sensirion gears up for flotation - sources

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Swiss sensor maker Sensirion is gearing up for a Zurich stock market flotation in March or April as it seeks additional funds for expansion, people close to the matter said.

The maker of sensors used in the medical, industrial and automotive industries is working with JP Morgan (JPM.N) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) as so-called global coordinators on the deal, with further help from Vontobel (VONN.S), they said.

Sensirion declined to confirm that a transaction was imminent.

“An IPO is one option,” a spokesman said on Tuesday, adding the timing was open.

Sensirion is expected to reap a valuation of 600-800 million Swiss francs ($642-856 million), including proceeds from a planned capital increase, one of the people said, adding that shares worth 200-300 million francs will likely be offered.

The maker of gas and liquid flow sensors as well as gear to measure humidity, temperature or carbon dioxide levels was founded in 1998 by physicists Felix Mayer and Moritz Lechner as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH).

Lechner and Mayer, along with other longer-term investors, own the company. Marc von Waldkirch, another ETH-trained physicist, is chief executive.